Preview

Cinderella: Brothers Grimm and Traditional Fairy Tale

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
369 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cinderella: Brothers Grimm and Traditional Fairy Tale
Below is a free essay on "Analysis of Anne Sexton's Cinderella" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples.

Tristfully Ever After
Anne Sexton's poetic debunking of Cinderella is a dark comic version of the popular fairy tale. In it, she combines the Brothers' Grimm tale with stories from modern society. In the poem "Cinderella" by Anne Sexton, she uses the stylistic devices diction, tone, symbolism, repetition, similes, and references from contemporary living to the Brothers' Grimm to satirize the happily ever after that many people chase. Does this fairy tale ending exist or is it just a dream stalked by many?
As Sexton begins the poem, she sets a sarcastic tone by saying "You always read about it" and following it with extravagant rags to riches stories when in fact, these stories do not always occur. The sarcastic tone is shown throughout the poem. With Sexton's harsh words of reality, she breaks the dreams of the readers seeking a traditional fairy tale. The use of Sexton's sarcastic tone foreshadows what is to come in the poem. The line "that story", which is repeated numerous times, exposes the unrealistic nature of these rags to riches stories. Through the lines "Cinderella and the prince / lived, they say, happily ever after, / like two dolls in a museum case/ never bothered by diapers or dust, / never arguing over the timing of an egg" Sexton is in fact changing the fairy tale into a myth, making Cinderella and the prince just a portrait hung on the wall. By her use of sarcasm, Sexton is depicting for the readers how the fairy tale ending is in fact not reality. Just because Cinderella marries the prince does not necessarily mean that they will live happily ever after. When a person runs off and gets married, it never turns out quite like a fairy tale.
In the last stanza of the poem, Sexton describes the relationship between Cinderella and her prince in a set of similes used to continue the sarcastic
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Gender Stereotypes In Cinderella
    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gender Stereotypes In Cinderella

    In all these versions, readers or viewers find a common thread to all. The wicked stepmother and siblings are either punished or forgiven, while the sweet, gracious, and beautiful Cinderella marries the prince, and as such escapes her miserable life. According to this tale, marriage is the ultimate goal in life especially for the woman. In Cinderella, all the maidens in town go to the ball just to marry the prince. Even Cinderella desires to go because she sees marriage to the prince as the solution to her problem. “The ideological and psychological pattern and message of either Perrault’s or the Grimms’ Cinderella do nothing more than reinforce sexist values and a Puritan ethos that serves a society which fosters competition and achievement for survival” (Breaking the Magic 195). And this applies to the other two versions in this analysis. Women are typecast as incomplete and invisible without the prince, who obviously is a wealthy archetype. There is a certain important message in Cinderella that is most profitable to marry a rich man, because it earns the woman respect and dignity.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Elizabeth Panttaja: Critique Final Draft
    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Elizabeth Panttaja: Critique Final Draft

    Throughout Elizabeth Panttaja’s article, the audience is provided with impressive mental illustrations in which portray the Cinderella society recognizes today as deceptive. The idea Pantajja is presenting to her intended audience comes from the foundation of the original Cinderella titled “Ashputtle.” Panttaja discloses that “Cinderella….has little to do with her being a standup citizen and more to do with her intense loyalty to her dead mother and a string of subversive acts; she disobeys the stepmother, enlists in forbidden helpers, uses magical powers, lies, hides, dissembles, disguises herself and evades pursuit”(Panttaja #60). The superior statement may be directly interpreted as Pantajja believes firmly that Cinderella is horribly misbehaved, disrespectful alongside deceitful.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Gender Roles In The Paper Bag Princess
    • 1829 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gender Roles In The Paper Bag Princess

    The common fairytale portrays the stereotypical “damsel in distress,” who is helpless until her male savior typically rescues her. Many fairytales address the theme of gender roles as well as many others. The female character takes on the feeble, desolate role, while the male character takes on the strong, hero role similar to the stories of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. However, Elizabeth, the protagonist of The Paper Bag Princess defies typical gender roles as a female character and becomes the hero of the story. Cinderella and The Paper Bag Princess share many qualities, but have major differences as well. Cinderella is an example of a woman who occupies traditional, domestic roles, but she does not portray the modern, liberated woman Elizabeth exhibits.…

    • 1829 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cinderell Archetype Of True Love Kiss
    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cinderell Archetype Of True Love Kiss

    In cinderella this young teenage girl wants to live up to her dream, but never get's because of her stepmom and stepsisters. Always in the end she ends up achieving what she was trying to work so hard for in the beginning. In all conclusion the story of cinderella shows the theme in literature to be sometimes predictable and other times unrecognizable.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cinderella Vs Disney Research Paper
    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cinderella Vs Disney Research Paper

    Perrault embraced the truism of the story by allowing the stepsisters to apologize to Cinderella for treating her so badly. True to her character, Cinderella “forgave them with all her heart” (Perrault, 2009). Furthermore, Cinderella arranged for both sisters to be married on the same day. Perrault concluded with a moral statement declaring that: “beauty is a fine thing… but charm is beyond price and worth more… more than a happy ending” (Perrault, 2009). Perrault’s ending reinforced the readers’ understanding of text and provided a good explanation of the purpose behind the tale while reinforcing readers understanding of text. Disney’s version merely ended soon after the shoe fit with a “happily ever after”…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Conte Poem Analysis
    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Conte Poem Analysis

    The poem deviates from the basic fairy tale through the use of ironic predicaments. Cinderella makes a bold statement from the beginning: “First of all, I’m bored” (1). She misses her old life of feeling useful through cleaning. As a princess, she sits around all day listening to complaints and sewing. The mistress tells her problems to Cinderella. Cinderella agrees that the mistress is being mistreated, even though Cinderella herself was mistreated. Mistreatment should not be a major dilemma in a fairy tale. Cinderella also writes, “The plumbing is appalling” (12). A palace with crumby plumbing is the last thing expected in a fairy tale palace. The prince is also causing conflict. Cinderella writes, “he is forever brooding on lost choices he might have made; before / three days had passed. I’d heard, midnight to dawn, / about the solitary life he craved” (13-16). The prince wanted to find a bride, yet he regrets the decisions he made. From midnight to dawn, Cinderella listens to him crave for his single life back. Like midnight in the original tale, the happily ever after ends and the real world begins as the prince shows his true self through his thoughts after midnight. The state of affairs in the palace show the mundane life that Cinderella experiences everyday. The irony within the poem refutes the perfect fairy tale and reveals Cinderella’s mistake of believing in…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Disney's Cinderella Analysis
    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Disney's Cinderella Analysis

    The film tells the story of Cinderella hardships while overcoming the jealousy, anger and discouragement of her cruel stepsisters and wicked step mother. What this film shows is the unbreakable bond she develops with her mother throughout her adolescent years, the values and morals she taught her and how their special connection continued to grow even after her mother becomes fatally ill. Viewers are not usually introduce to Cinderella parents or being capable of seeing the background story and close relationship she shares with both her mother and father. The storyline shared new aspects that viewers are getting to grasp and understand, far as why Cinderella continued to stay in her mother and father’s home and constantly be mistreated by her step siblings. Viewers start to feel compassionate towards her situation. There were characters who actors did a superb job, such as Kate Blanchett’s Stepmother. The film was captured beautifully. In particular the infamous “godmother and pumpkin carriage” scene was one of my favorite depiction of the scene out of all the Cinderella films. The film was successful at capturing; the glitz, glam, the moral meaning of showing kindness, good fortunes happen such as becoming a princess and you’ll live happily ever after. The film stay true to the original folktale of Cinderella far as significance and subtle gore. The dialogue was tolerable. Overall the film was decent when comparing to the several vision of the popular Disney tale. A 1950's film that looks particularly interesting is Norman Foster’s, “Woman on the Run”. This film's plot sounds intriguing, although I am not a big fan of the Film Noir genre, I do enjoy action movies during this period to compare the advancement of special effects with gun power and explosion to today's Action movies.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cinderella Sibling Rivalry
    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cinderella Sibling Rivalry

    Bruno Bettelheim, the author of “Cinderella: A story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,” believes that Cinderella is one of the best fairytales of all time because the tale has a deeper meaning than what meets the eye and it is something that everyone can relate with at some point in their life. Being a Freudian psychologist, Bettelheim believes that a person’s conscious mind takes the fairytale for face value, while the same person’s unconscious mind can view the exact same fairytale very differently.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Sexton Cinderella
    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anne Sexton Cinderella

    "You always read about.../...the nursemaid some luscious sweet from Denmark / who captures the oldest son's heart. / from Diapers to Dior. / That story." Satiric poetry like "Cinderella" often blends criticism with humor to convey a message that the author is trying to convey. Satire can be seen in "Cinderella" without even finishing the first stanza. In Anne Sexton's case she is…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    comparing and contrast cinderella
    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages

    comparing and contrast cinderella

    Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, the girl who finds her prince with the help of a magical fairy god-mother, transforming her previously horrible life to a fabulous depiction of every little girls dream. Generations of children around the world have heard the story Cinderella countless times, however most people are unaware of the multiple versions of this legend. The European version of Cinderella ,“Aschenputtel” written by the Grimm Brothers consists of the female protagonist being treated as a servant, yet somehow manages to leave her cruel family behind for her Prince whom she lives happily ever after with. Another version of Cinderella is the Native American tale “The Algonquin Cinderella”, where the female protagonist is also mistreated by her family, however she is fortunate enough to “find” her own prince in her village. Although both stories present similar morals, both vary in details such as characters, settings,and use of magic.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Mla Cinderella by Sexton
    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mla Cinderella by Sexton

    Furthermore, from the day a girl can read, she’s read some sort of fairytale and dreams of having a life just like that, without thought about the real worlds problems. Sexton states: “Cinderella and the prince/lived, they say, happily ever after,/like two dolls in a museum case/never bothered by diapers or dust,/never arguing…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Research Paper On Cinderella
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Research Paper On Cinderella

    Cinderella thought it was easy to be a princess, Not knowing she still had to know the basics of cleaning around the house. Cinderella spent her days lounging in the garden and singing to the wildlife. She had no worries and certainly no realist view of her future. Fortunately, her stepmother cared so deeply for Cinderella's future that she carefully prepared her for life outside of her childhood home. Cinderella's mother behaved as any responsible parent should. Cinderella clearly intended to run off with the prince she knew nothing about. She demonstrated her intent by secretly attending the ball. Cinderella's stepmother needed to protect her stepdaughter from a potentially devastating mistake, at least until she could investigate the prince's past and intentions. Because Cinderella stepmother's concern and swift action, she quite possibly saved Cinderella from having to raise five children in a trailer park with out running water or cable television. Secondly, it was not long until she moved in,…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Sexton Cinderella
    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Anne Sexton Cinderella

    Sexton’s use of repetition is easily spotted in the last stanza of the poem. Sexton’s negative view is shown through the repetition of the word “never.” Never is repeated in the last stanza four times, and each time is an example of a real relationship that Cinderella and her prince will never have. Sexton is mocking the supposed “happily ever after” (101) that…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hero's Journey In Cinderella By Grimm Brothers
    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hero's Journey In Cinderella By Grimm Brothers

    In the Grimm Brothers story “Cinderella” they tell the story of a girl with an unfortunate beginning and her transition to happiness. The story is written to inspire by showing that even at your darkest of days things can always get better and lead to your happily ever after. Throughout the tale, you will read how the main character goes from rags to riches despite many unfortunate trials.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Happily Ever After (Gay Marriage)
    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Happily Ever After (Gay Marriage)

    "And They Lived Happily Ever After, The End". A typical ending to the all American fairytale, but who is "they"? "They" usually means Prince Charming and whomever his bride is in the story, maybe either Cinderella or Snow White. But what if Cinderella wasn't interested in Prince Charming, what if she really wanted to marry Snow White? Now that would be a fairytale up for debate!…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics